Raspberry Coconut Cupcakes

A winning flavor combination – these Raspberry Coconut Cupcakes are coconut cupcakes filled with raspberry jam and then topped with a smooth and creamy raspberry buttercream. Don’t worry if raspberries aren’t in season – you use jam, making these perfect year round!

For the longest time, my daughter has claimed that she hates coconut. I know – I don’t get that kind of hate, either. 🙂 But I’m not sure if it was something she ate that she didn’t like, or if she was just being typical Abbi and decided that she was going to say that coconut wasn’t her thing.

The problem with this, though, is that I love coconut. Seriously – all of the dessert recipes I have been looking at lately all have coconut. It’s a epidemic.

I tried to convince her for the longest time that it was all in her head, and that she would like coconut if she gave it a try.

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But no dice.

So several weeks back, I was preparing for a bake sale, and making lots of cupcakes. One of those cupcakes were some coconut cupcakes. Abbi begged for one, even after I told her they were coconut. And lo and behold, she ate it.

And loved it.

Yep – mom was right. I knew that she just had it in her head that she didn’t like it for some reason. But now? She can’t get enough of it. I was getting ready for a family dinner a couple of weeks back, making some green beans to take to contribute. She told me she wanted me to make a coconut cake, and when I told her that my sister was in charge of dessert, she broke into tears, crying that she just wanted a coconut cake.

Where did this girl come from???

(And ironically, my sister did make a coconut cake, without even hearing what was going on at our house. Abbi couldn’t have been more excited!!)

So now it’s all things coconut – all the time. Since I can. And since that’s one more person to help me eat the dessert so I don’t feel obligated to eat it all myself. 🙂

I know everyone is jumping into fall – apples and pumpkins and spice are everywhere right now, but I needed a dessert to take to an end of summer party this past weekend. That is when these Raspberry Coconut Cupcakes were born. I had the raspberry coconut combination in my mind, and cupcakes are perfect for bbqs. Raspberries are pretty hard to come by right now because of the drought in California, so I skipped the fresh and used raspberry jam to not only flavor the buttercream, but to fill the cupcakes as well. While it is an extra step that takes a bit more time, filling the cupcakes provides a little fun surprise as well as a ton of flavor.

Speaking of filling the cupcakes, these cupcakes are quite soft and moist, and the added shredded coconut makes it a little more difficult to cut a cone out of the center of the cupcake. Just take your time, and remember that any mistakes will be covered by the buttercream! 😉

These cupcakes were gobbled up with rave reviews, which I was grateful for. And my newly converted coconut loving daughter ate every bite of hers.

Raspberry Coconut Cupcakes

Description

A winning flavor combination – these Raspberry Coconut Cupcakes are coconut cupcakes, filled with raspberry jam and then topped with a smooth and creamy raspberry buttercream. Don’t worry if raspberries aren’t in season – you use jam, making these perfect year round!

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

4 oz shredded, sweetened coconut

Filling

6 tablespoons raspberry jam

Raspberry Buttercream

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup raspberry jam

1/2 cup toasted shredded, sweetened coconut

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 18 regular muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the extracts. On low sped, alternately add the 1/3 of the flour mixture, 1/2 of the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the flour, the remaining buttermilk and then the remaining flour, beating just until blended. Stir in the coconut.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes; remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Once cool, use a sharp knife to cut a cone out of the center of each cupcake, reserving the cut out piece. Fill the center with 1 teaspoon of jam. Replace the cut out piece of the cupcake. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until incorporated. Beat in the salt, then turn the mixer to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, another 2-3 minutes. Add the jam and beat until combined. The buttercream should be light, creamy and smooth.

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Comments

I totally used to think I hated coconut too. No idea why because then I tried it again and realized I was basically missing out on my WHOLE LIFE. These little gorgeous cupcakes are EVERYTHING. Love the coconut and raspberry combo! Pinned!

Well I am definitely glad to hear you won your daughter over on the coconut front…because that means more coconut treats for us! I love them but the husband hates them. So…I’ll be eating the batch of these myself. I guess there are worse problems?!